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Cold Cave’s ‘search for light and warmth’ in a ‘dark and cold world’

By Michael Grondin

The only chance to see Cold Cave in Western Canada will be at Terminus Festival at Dickens.Photo: Mara Mckevitt

CALGARY — The ethos of Cold Cave is that of, well, a dark, cold cave. From the outside looking in, we see a dark image of obscure, shadow-covered individuals clad in leather and sunglasses, clutching their instruments passionately.

Wesley Eisold founded Cold Cave in 2007 and they have released three full-length albums and nine EPs to date, pushing their capabilities without looking back too much.

Their gothic-darkwave-pop has a vibrant colour found in the layers of bouncing ‘80s synth-lines, piercing but subtle guitar riffs, crunchy post-punk bass grooves and uplifting choruses.

“Cold Cave is a search for light and warmth in what seems to be a consistently tiring, dark and cold world,” writes Eisold in an email interview from Los Angeles. “Cold Cave is for love, for poetry, beauty but takes in to account all that is against those. It’s a voice that celebrates the possibility of living in a world of peace.”

You could say Eisold’s music is a direct homage to the ‘80s synth-music loving teenager he once was.

“I’m still a punk. It’s in my blood. Everything I approach in life is through the eyes of how I saw the world at age 14. I don’t know if this is good or bad but I am still emotionally driven,” he says.

However, Cold Cave still manages to push forward on their own trajectory.

“I guess I’m just a product of the ‘80s really. I was too young to be a part of the ‘80s hardcore, punk or goth scenes but was old enough to realize I loved it,” he says.

Eisold, who has fronted big hardcore acts such as Give Up The Ghost, is Cold Cave’s only fixed member in a rotating cast of musicians.

“It’s a solo project but I have people who are in my direct life contribute,” he says. “Cold Cave is a gang, even if it’s just me at times.”

Cold Cave will be playing at this year’s Terminus Music Festival in July. When asked about Cold Cave’s live performance, Eisold kept things mysterious and said it will be “dark and beautiful. Come and see.”

Eisold says that Cold Cave is “a reminder of all the good that could be, or might have been.” He concludes, “I feel so lucky to have the people that like my music also be people that I could talk to, that I would want to know. That means the world to me.”

Cold Cave’s only Western Canada appearance this summer will be at Dickens as part of the venue’s Terminus Festival on Saturday, July 30th.

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